The Cask of Amontillado Literary Analysis Essay

English Literature and Composition

Avril Antonella Genao Cerda

The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe, is a short story first published in 1846 for the
November issue of Godey’s Lady Book. Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston and had
a very rough childhood since the very beginning. Both his parents died when he was extremely young
and later on his wife passed away as well, making him go into a severe state of depression and
alcoholism. All this backstory leads to Poe’s dark style of writting using real and raw emotions. He uses
the feeling of loss and love in a few of his stories, meanwhile takes a completely different approach in
The Cask of Amontillado. He shows raw emotions but instead of love, uses the real feeling of hatred
and pride. The short story of The Cask of Amontillado, uses two main characters where one buries the
other out of revenge for past insults he had received, and achieves getting the message accross by the use
of multiple rhetorical devices such as the appearance of hyperbole, irony and an unsettling and
menancing tone.

The story features two men, Fortunato and Montresor, who used to be best friends when
younger but later on developed bad blood when Fortunato insulted Montresor. Montresor held a big
grudge and felt like he had to be this perfect man who was better than everyone else, and avenged
people who did him wrong throughout his life, so he became that way. One day during Carnival season,
Montresor lured Fortunato with a big smile by using his weakness, wine. Fortunato’s passion for wine
was Montresor’s perfect way to take him into his family’s vault and give him tastings of different wines
including Amontillado who was such a preacious drink at the time. He strategically planned for
Fortunato to go inside but never come out of the vaults. They chat as they walk and Montresor makes
Fortunato more and more intoxicated. As he gets worse, Montresor chains Fortunato’s feet to a stone at
the end of the vault and begins to stack bridges one on top of the other building up a wall. As he gets
close to finishing, Fortunato starts to scream and and seconds later letting out his last words as he is left
helpless and alone. Montresor stays unbothered and finishes his anticipase misssion.

Throughout this short story you can really see how revenge plays in Montresor’s head. His
anger against Fortunato for insulting him is quite strong and you can get an inside scoop in the
thoughts of Montresor himself. It is very clear and obvious what he wants just like he says in the first
paragraph of the short story “I promised myself that I would make him pay for this — that I would
have revenge”. To Fortunato it was just a silly situation they had encountered years ago but
Montresor really held a grudge and although it could’ve been handled way differently, it was not, and
became quite an extreme situation. By Montresor’s actions you can tell he is quite impulsive and acts
fast on anger which relates the character to the time period it was written.

The Cask of Amontillado, although short, contains various factors that make the story as
brilliant as it is, including the literary devices and tone mentioned above. In the short story, the reader
can see the use of various literary devices like hyperbole which can be seen right at the start where
Montresor says “Fortunato had hurt me a thousand times” which is a clear exaggeration. As well, irony
can be distinguished in the story for example when they were down in the vault and Fortunato said “I

shall not die of a cough” with Montresor responding that he was right because he knew Fortunato was
going to die a different way. These are just two of many literary devices that helps set the tone of being
unsettling and menancing. All throughout the story, you are kept unknowing what will happen next with
a feeling of discomfort.

All things considered, The Cask of Amontillado is truly a great story as it brings out so many
details that engage the audience along with the intrigue of what will happen next. It lets you in on the
mind of a murderer getting closer and closer to their killing where you are understanding their feelings
of why they are doing that, even if you dont agree with his actions. To see two completely different
character who once where the best of friends, now re-encounter is one of the many things that makes
the story fun to read and most importantly, easy to understand. This story is able to relate a lot to the
past with the topic of alcoholism and spite, therefore why it was so succesful, then and still now. From
Poe’s connection to his surroudings to the unsettling tone, The Cask of Amontillado is able to achieves
getting it’s message accross succesfully and in an entertaining way.